Home
The next morning, we set out in a hurry.
As if the night before had never happened, Yang Jin-ju was once again the sharp, no-nonsense navigator, and I had slipped back into the role of her solid bodyguard.
The return trip was incomparably easier than the journey out. We had already carved the path once, so no more colossal obstacles barred our way. Only the occasional zombies still tried to slow our homecoming.
We ran without rest. By evening the familiar landscape of Buk-gu finally began to appear.
I keyed the suit’s comms and sent a playful signal toward the Shelter.
“This is the expedition team. Shelter, do you copy? Over.”
Static crackled at first. Then a voice we had been aching to hear burst through.
“(...Oppa? Oppa, is that really you?! Unni!!)”
Nam Jin-ju. Joy and pure relief flooded every syllable.
Right on her heels another voice cut in, sharp with urgency.
“(Seo Yeong-chan? Is that you? Are you safe? Any injuries? What about Yang Jin-ju?!)”
Yeong-ju. The usual blunt edge was gone; only raw worry remained.
“Yeah, Yeong-ju. We’re both fine. Don’t worry.”
“(So how much longer? Where are you right now? You’re almost here, right?)”
Her barrage of questions pulled an involuntary smile onto my face.
We were finally coming home.
Ten more minutes of hard running, and far ahead the silhouette of a familiar gray building—our Shelter—rose into view. In front of it, three figures waited like family who had been watching the road for far too long.
The truck rolled to a stop. The moment I vaulted down from the cargo bed and disengaged the suit, Nam Jin-ju and Yeong-ju both slammed into me at once, arms locking tight around my chest.
“Oppa! I’m so glad you’re safe!”
“...You did good.”
Their warmth and the sheer honesty of the welcome melted every scrap of fatigue I had been carrying.
The only problem was that neither of them seemed inclined to let go. Yang Jin-ju—the other hero of this entire expedition—was left standing awkwardly to the side, muttering in a small, wounded voice.
“Um… Unni, I’m here too…. Jin-ju, I came back as well….”
Kang Po-gyeong, standing beside her, gave her shoulder a gentle pat and smiled.
“I am truly glad you returned safely, Yang Jin-ju-nim.”
Only then did Yeong-ju and Nam Jin-ju register the situation. They peeled themselves off me with sheepish faces and immediately pulled Yang Jin-ju into a double hug, late but loud with “You worked so hard!” and “Thank goodness you’re safe!”
Yang Jin-ju looked faintly exasperated for half a second, then hugged them back just as hard.
We stood there a long while, simply confirming one another’s unbroken bodies and drinking in the joy of reunion.
When the emotional storm finally settled, we carefully lifted the white special-storage bag down from the truck bed. The eyes of the three who had come to meet us lit up as one. Every gaze locked onto that single bag.
“...Is that it?”
Yeong-ju’s voice trembled. I nodded without a word. Nam Jin-ju could not hold back any longer.
“Wow! You really brought it! Hurry! Hurry inside! Straight to the hydroponics room!”
She herded us like an excited child and sprinted ahead into the Shelter.
Inside the hydroponics room we set the bag on the cleanest workbench as though we were performing a sacred rite. I pressed the red button on its surface. A clear electronic chime rang out.
Initiating rapid thaw and germination acceleration sequence. Estimated time required: 10 minutes. To cancel the thawing process, press the button once more.
A cold, mechanical voice—yet to our ears it sounded like an angel’s—issued from the bag.
Yeong-ju stared at the bag with open wonder, then turned to Yang Jin-ju and me.
“This bag… it’s no ordinary piece of gear. How the hell did you get it?”
Her curious question dragged both of us back, for a heartbeat, to the bizarre encounter with Lee Hyeon-yeong inside the Seed Vault. We fumbled for words.
“Ah… well, we just… got lucky.”
“Yes… there were some complicated circumstances….”
Yeong-ju studied our faces—the ones that were clearly trying to hide something—for a long moment. Then she seemed to decide not to dig any deeper.
“...Fine. Tell me properly later.”
She turned her hopeful gaze back to the bag.
For the full ten minutes we stood in absolute silence, eyes fixed on that white container, barely daring to breathe. Those ten minutes felt like an hour.
At last, without any dramatic fanfare, a soft psssh of vacuum release sounded and the bag opened with a solid clunk. We watched, still holding our breath.
Inside, dozens of small beakers stood in neat rows. Each held tiny seeds that had only just begun to sprout. As if entranced, we carefully lifted them one by one and held them close to our eyes.
We stared at the miracle for a long time before Yeong-ju finally snapped out of it.
“Stop gawking and get them into the input port already. I’m terrified we’ll drop them with shaking hands or kill every last seed.”
She carefully opened the lid of the input port at the top of the hydroponics machine and gently poured the contents of her beaker inside.
The machine’s display lit up.
A moment later the text changed.
Garlic (Allium sativum) seeds confirmed.
Cultivation viability: 65%
Pale yellow nutrient solution carried the garlic seeds along a transparent hose into one of the long rows of clear hydroponic tanks.
I poured my own beaker next.
Japonica rice (Oryza sativa) seeds confirmed.
Cultivation viability: 77%
Rice seeds began filling another tank.
Without another word we took turns pouring every seed we carried into the input. The machine identified each of the twelve varieties—potato, sweet potato, green onion, cabbage, and the rest—with perfect accuracy and automatically routed them into their proper tanks.
When the last seed was loaded and every tank was full, a low whirr filled the room. The countless LED panels set into the ceiling blazed to life as one.
Artificial sunlight system online.
Optimizing growth environment.
Guided by the machine’s calm voice, the long rows of hydroponic tanks began to glide slowly along their rails, settling into perfect position.
We simply stood and watched that wondrous, beautiful sight in silence for a long time.
Yang Jin-ju, who had walked through the Seed Vault at my side, looked deeply moved by the miracle unfolding before us. She stepped close, wordlessly took my right hand in both of hers, and held it tight.
Her hands were small and warm.
We stayed like that, fingers laced, watching the hydroponic facility drift under artificial sunlight.
Then I felt a fierce gaze burning into my left side.
I turned. Yeong-ju stood there with her arms folded, staring straight at us. Her eyes flicked from my face down to the hands joined over my right, then back up to meet mine again.
I swallowed hard.
But she did not explode. Instead she gave me a small, mischievous, almost generous smile that said, clear as day, I’ll let it slide this once.
Then she reached for my free left hand, laced her fingers through mine, and held on firmly.
The three of us stood side by side, silently gazing at the landscape of hope that stretched before us.
After a long while of simply staring, we decided the joy was too big to let pass quietly. We headed for the cafeteria to throw a celebration.
There was no alcohol, yet we were drunk on the atmosphere as thoroughly as if we had downed the finest liquor on earth. Late into the night we laughed and chattered like children about all the delicious meals we would cook once the crops came in.
At last someone pointed out that it was far too late and we ought to sleep.
“I’m turning in first. Good night, everyone.”
Yeong-ju rose first. At the cafeteria doorway she glanced back, met my eyes, then flicked a quick look at Yang Jin-ju sitting beside me. A faint, knowing smile touched her lips before she slipped out.
Kang Po-gyeong and Nam Jin-ju followed with cheerful “Good night!”s and disappeared toward their own rooms.
Only Yang Jin-ju and I remained.
She stood with me, took my hand as naturally as breathing, and leaned close so that her warm breath brushed my ear.
“...You know where my room is, right, Oppa?”
She hesitated half a second, then added softly,
“...Come a little later. I’ll be waiting.”
With that she released my hand and hurried out, cheeks faintly pink.
Left alone, I felt the bold, honest invitation set every nerve on fire. I drained the cold water still sitting on the table in one long swallow, fighting to rein the heat back under control.
A short while later I rose and quietly left the cafeteria.